


Land of Peaceful Rest -Going My Way-

by FireEye



Category: Kino no Tabi | Kino's Journey - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 21:31:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13062561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireEye/pseuds/FireEye
Summary: Kino and Hermes, and one more country along the road.





	Land of Peaceful Rest -Going My Way-

**Author's Note:**

  * For [satyreyes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/satyreyes/gifts).



The rolling green countryside was veiled in patches of mist.  From the road, it looked like little fluffs of clouds had fallen into the dells between the hills, which peaked their grassy crowns in windswept sunlight.

A lone tree appeared on the horizon, growing larger at a distance as the highway dipped into a gully and rose back out again.  At the crest of the next hill, its shadow cut across the road and clawed the grass on the far side.  Up close, was tall and worn, and its skeletal branches were bare of leaves.

The traveler eased back on the throttle to a standstill beneath it.

Dismounting, Kino walked the motorrad closer to lean it against the trunk.  From the saddlebags, she procured a blanket to sit among the roots that tangled at the edge of the road, along with a light lunch.

Wind tangled in the sprawling white clouds above, sending them on their own journey them across the sky, and whispered through the branches above.

“How much further, you think?”

“I don’t know, Hermes.”

“Do you think the road ever stops?”

“I imagine so.”

The way they had come.  The way they were going.

The road was lonely in either direction.

~*~

The road forked.

One way wound further northwest, where the ground turned rocky and barren.  The other sloped down into the shadow of the cliff.

A girl in a sun dress sat on the edge of the cliff, letting her bare feet dangle as she watched the horizon.  At their approach she first looked up, then got to her feet, coming to meet them where the road split.

“If you’re going that way,” she asked, “do you think you could give me a ride?”

Kino looked in the direction she pointed, where the road below the cliff spiraled north through grassy fields.  “Sure, I guess.”

Smiling shyly, the girl climbed up behind Kino.  “Thanks.”

“I’m Hermes,” the motorrad piped up.  “This is Kino.”

 

It was a country, it seemed, but its borders weren’t as well defined as some.  There was no perimeter wall, nothing so much as a sign to mark the passing from wilderness to civilization.  Small fences cropped up along the road, then cut across the fields of grass into the distance.  Then, fields of stone markers, evenly spaced in rows and being tended to with great care by men and women who moved about them.

As Kino watched from the road, a young mother with a baby in a sling across her chest knelt and placed flowers in offering to one of the stones.  Two more children played between the stones nearby.  A man and woman together made their own offering some distance away.  An old man walked between the rows, placing his hand on one stone after another, speaking softly to each before moving to the next.

“What do you think they’re doing?”

“I’m not sure...”

The wooden fences eventually gave way to one low, continuous stone wall as the road wound alongside the fields.  On the other side, there were many small stone buildings and ornate ornamental statuaries, with flagstone paths meandering between them.

The road traveled on, until the stone wall curved away from it.  The buildings that took the place of the wall were rustic, clustered and circling the road, which between them became more a street, with several large monuments among them.  It was here that Kino slowed, as here it seemed was the heart of the country.

“Hey,” Kino said, only suddenly remembering their passenger, “Do you know where-...”

Finding the girl gone behind her, Kino cast a second glance at their surroundings.

“Did she jump off?” Hermes asked.

“Guess so.”

Dismounting, Kino set to walking along the street.  Of the few people about, many now watched them making their way with curiosity.  As they wandered between the buildings, a larger one with a stone foundation at street level and, off to one side, a barn... or maybe it was a garage, caught her attention.

A man with a broom was sweeping off its front porch, and when he saw Kino standing at the front of the steps, he stopped, stunned, then smiled brightly.

“Oh, a visitor!”

Kino smiled back.  “Is this the inn?”

“Yep.” The man gave the porch another few swipes with the broom, “It might not be as fancy as some, but it’s got hot water and cozy beds.”

“That would be perfect.”

He stood aside to usher her up the steps.  Setting the broom aside once through the door, he led her towards a desk that had been set up at the bottom of the stairs.

“If you don’t mind me asking, are you staying or are you just passing through?”

“Staying.”

“Oh?”

Kino held up her fingers.  “Three days.”

The man’s smile faltered a moment, then returned in full force.  “Ah, I see.”

Digging a heavy register out from under some other books, he set it open on the desk in front of Kino, handing her an elaborate feather pen.

“Your room is upstairs,” he said, while she filled in the sparse details, “fourth door at the end of the hall.”

She handed him back the pen.  “Thanks a lot.”

“Say, would you like a tour of our country?” he asked, as she turned Hermes towards the stairs.  “We don’t get a lot of visitors passing through like other countries, but we’re very proud of what we’ve built here.”

“That sounds nice,” Kino answered.  “Maybe in the morning.”

 “I hope you enjoy your stay.”

~*~

In the center of the communal square was a large monument of a raised bed carved out of marble, with a young woman’s peacefully resting likeness carved atop of it.  Interred beneath it, their guide said, was the founder of the country.

“The story goes she was the only survivor of a country that had gone to war, and she traveled for years trying to find meaning before settling down here,” her host, now her acting tour guide, was telling her.  “She had a monument made in remembrance of her friends and family that she had lost – we’ll see that next.  And once others saw her selfless dedication in tending to it, they had a revelation on how much it took to properly take care of the deceased.”

“Even...” Kino asked, “though they’re dead?”

“Think about it.  You spent only a short time alive, but you spend a very long time dead.  It falls to the living to make sure the dead are well taken care of.”

“I never thought of it that way.”

 

The older monument had, at one time, had a shrine built around it to protect it from the rain and the wind.  It was a selection of statues – the founder’s husband and children, perhaps – along with a stone plate containing a list of names.  Other, newer statues and statue sets had been set in alcoves, with more names to read.

“A lot of the people who settled here to help out were also refugees who couldn’t go home,” her host explained as she studied the weather-worn statuary in the center of the shrine.  “Or travelers who simply didn’t have living family anymore.  We still get them, sometimes; people who find us and decide to become part of the community.”

“People even come from other countries to be laid to rest here, or to bring someone here that they want taken care of.”

 

Through the day, her host showed them around the mausoleums and fields of simple gravestones.  Those tending the graves smiled politely at them, and her host occasionally greeted them by name.  More than once, he even introduced her to the individual tombstones he knew.

 

The sun was going down over the horizon when they made their way back through the fields to the inn.  The first stars were starting to glimmer in the sky when the man turned off the path, entirely away from the settlement.

“There’s one more I wanted to show you!” he said.  “I think you’ll appreciate this one best, which is why I saved it for last.”

Kino paused for a moment, then eased Hermes around to follow him.  “Okay, sure.”

The last monument was in the middle of a grove of trees.  A pedestal, chest height, with eight figures up in different poses, facing the eight directions of a compass.  Some were seated, some on their feet; some outgoing, some withdrawn.  Their features were roughed in; an impression, more than any one person.

“It’s our memorial to travelers,” Kino’s host revealed.

Kino stared up at the monument.

“That’s...” she managed to say, “...very kind of you.”

~*~

“What are you looking for?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Why are you looking for something if you don’t remember it?”

Kino had emptied out the bags twice, and everything was on the floor.  Sitting in the middle of the chaos, she breathed a thoughtful sigh.

After several long minutes of contemplation, Kino grabbed her coat from where it was draped on Hermes’ seat, and pulled it on as she made her the way to the door.

“I’ll be back in a little bit.”

“Don’t leave me here too long!  It’s creepy.”

~*~

In the dying afternoon light, Kino stood under the monument in the grove.  Wind rustled the needles on the trees, and pulled at the corners of her coat.

Taking a deep breath, Kino opened her eyes.  She placed the token into the outstretched hand of one of the statues.

It wasn’t going to last, but nothing was.

~*~

“I hope you come back again some day!  Have a safe journey!”

Broom in hand, the man stood on the porch to see her off.

Kino waved in return.

 

The road out of the country passed through another field of clustered mausoleums and more graveyards.  Some of the people tending them stopped and waved.  Others ,focused on what they were doing, didn’t notice them at all.

The last fence disappeared into the distance behind them, and Kino slowed to a stop.  A girl in a sun dress stood on the side of the road, waiting for them.

“If you’re going this way,” she asked, “do you think I could ride with you for a little while?”

Kino stared at her, then smiled faintly.

“Sure, why not.”

“Don’t jump off this time,” Hermes told the girl, “it’s dangerous.”

~*~

The moon had set, and the stars drifted brightly above through the midnight sky.  The tiny spark of a campfire off the side of the road danced below the sheltering branches of a vibrant maple tree, creating an island of light.

The road curved off, out of sight, into the darkness of the hills beyond.

“Hey Kino...”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think the world ends?  Maybe the road stops at the end of the world.”

“I don’t think the world ends, Hermes.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I may have gotten the idea over Halloween. I still hope you enjoy it. Happy Yuletide. <3


End file.
